Feels like it won't be long

We had our 37th week midwife appointment today and that was quite a milestone to get to. Even though we have felt pretty comfortable the past few weeks knowing things should be ok, we are now in a great safe zone. This past week I have definitely been feeling like things are "happening". I had suspected that the baby "dropped" earlier this week. The shape of my stomach just looked different and I am just a lot more uncomfortable walking around. Plus, feeling like you have to go to the bathroom every time you stand up isn't too fun:)

At our appointment today the midwife checked to see how far dilated and effaced I was. I was 4-5 cm dilated. She said a 4 plus..which she could stretch to 5. Plus, I was 90% effaced. We were a little freaked out about that. I'm just really nervous that I'm not having normal contraction patterns or something and that I won't know when we need to head to the hospital. I'm having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing with a pattern. I'm just praying for some a clear sign when we need to head to the hospital.

Thankfully Chad can stick around the house for the most part right now and I won't have to be here alone. We just ask that you pray that we will make it to the hospital in time. I'm sure I'm just overly nervous, but our midwife did warn us of the possibility that the way things are going, labor could be fast and I may just all of a sudden feel the urge to push. I'm pretty scared about that...but I know that God's been looking out for this little one for so long that everything will be okay. We will keep you all posted.

The Latest

It's been a couple weeks since I've given a good update on how things are going. Most of you probably know that on Friday (May 22nd) I had my cerclage stitches removed. They had me go to labor and delivery for that just in case. It turned out not to be as simple and easy as everyone had told me. They did give me some sort of anesthesia....just a relaxer that made me feel woozy and probably made the whole thing just really uncomfortable instead of really painful. They couldn't find the knot and once they did it had grown into my cervix a bit. But....it's over now....thank goodness. That day i just took it easy around the house wondering if anything would happen. I was dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced....for those of you that know what that means. It really is up in the air as to when I'll go into labor. I had my last weekly progesterone shot the day before the cerclage removal. That shot was meant to reduce the chance of preterm labor. So, if that's been doing what it's supposed to do.....well...I guess it might need to get out of my system before I would start labor.

The past couple days I've tried to be as active as I can be without totally wearing myself out. Yesterday Chad and I had lunch with my friend Anna and her little girl Lily. Then we wandered a couple fun grocery stores...Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Got some yummy gelato at Whole Foods. Last night got dinner with Chad's whole family and then his parents took us to Home Depot to get a sliding screen door for the patio. It wouldn't fit in our car...so that worked out great.

Today we met my family for lunch at a place called Pied Piper Eatery in East Nashville. The onion rings were amazing...the food was pretty good. Probably won't make the trek all the way over there again for that. Then Chad and I drove around Nashville just enjoying looking around and ended up at the Farmer's Market. It has been sooo long since I've been there and I've missed it. They have a new shaved ice place that is super yummy. Much better than I imagined it to be. I got Pina Colada flavor and they even squirt in some sweetened condensed milk to make it slightly creamy. It was yummy! After that we went to Home Depot. We are looking for some plant stands for the front porch. Didn't find what we were wanting, so decided to check at Walmart. Nothing there either....but we got some pots and soil to plant my herbs in. I've just been keeping them in the container they came in since I bought them. So, when we got home I potted those and now am just chilling out. I was hoping all that activity would start up some contractions....but not yet. We might just be going full term. It's a weird feeling to have indications she'll come early, but to also know that she might not. So....we will just wait and see.

Tomorrow we are planning on either a little cookout at our house or a picnic at nearby vineyard......gonna see what the weather is going to do first. Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

36 Weeks!

My First Mother's Day

In the past few months we haven't had the opportunity to enjoy being out too much, but today has been a very fun Mother's Day. Being out and about makes me so excited for all the fun times we have ahead together with the little baby on beautiful days like today. I notice everyone that has a stroller or a little baby and it just makes my heart flutter. That'll be us soon:) We had a yummy breakfast at the Pfunky Griddle and surprisingly didn't have to wait for a table, which is rare on Mother's Day. It doesn't take long to be stuffed to the max with pancakes though and you leave feeling a bit of a carbohydrate coma. Then we went to Centennial Park to see if there were any baby ducks swimming in the pond. We had checked a couple weeks ago and there wasn't any yet. So, I took some stale hotdog buns in hopes that we'd find some. We had to drive around to several vantage points before we spotted them and we walked to the edge of the pond. They are the cutest little things. We saw several duck families and it's so sweet how the mom and the dad kind of swim on the outsides of the babies to keep them wrangled. And seeing the whole family swimming in a perfect little row is just about the cutest thing ever. After that we enjoyed just driving around with the windows open seeing what's new around Nashville.

Now we are back home and settling in for a relaxing day. I guess this is the first Mother's Day of many that I have to look forward to. I wish I was with my mom to celebrate, but I'm thinking about you mom and can't tell you how much I love and appreciate you. Happy Mother's Day!

Belly Shot....how many more will I have?

The belly shots will be coming to an end soon. Or, I could be really brave and take post-pregnancy belly pics.....but that's not gonna happen:) Here I am at 34 weeks. It's Mother's Day weekend, which is really unique for me to feel like this year this holiday applies to me. Maybe not technically since our baby isn't here, but I'm sure anyone that's had a baby can agree that you already feel like a mommy before the baby is born.

Today we are having lunch with Chad's parents as they pass through town and then tomorrow Chad and I are going to have a little Mother's Day Brunch at a fun place we like called "Phunky Griddle". You make your own pancakes. I know...why go somewhere where you have to make the food yourself, right? Well, you don't have any prep work and you don't have to clean up afterwards and you just get to enjoy fresh hot pancakes right off the griddle that you have at your own table. I love it!

Last night I got to hang out with my sisters, which was fun! We got Thai food and then we went to Target and bought all the last things we need before the baby gets here. Greta had made some really yummy individual Molten Lava Cakes that we had over at our house afterwards. It's always weird to think that when we hang out it could be the last time that there isn't a little baby around.

Nothing new to report on the pregnancy front. Well, I do get my cerclage stitch taken out on May 22nd. It's normally a pretty simple procedure and so we are hoping that is true for us. They will do it at Vanderbilt Hospital in labor and delivery. I'm guessing they'll keep me around for a bit that day just to see if I start having contractions or anything. I'm really curious. I've been getting a weekly progesterone shot that is supposed to help prevent pre-term labor and I will be done getting those. So, I'm wondering if the combination of that and the stitch being out will mean something will happen quick. Who knows? Our midwife says some people go into labor right away and some women find themselves at 41 weeks begging to be induced. We are hoping it's not the latter.

Made it to 33 weeks!

Well, I guess our little girl isn't as eager to be born as we all thought she was. We are so thankful and now I'm just wondering how long she's going to hang in there. Things are going really well and I'm enjoying some new found freedom. I'm finding that even though I'm allowed to walk around now as long as I'm feeling ok....I'm not really able to walk much. When I walk around it really feels like the baby is going to fall out. I'm not sure if that's because I haven't adjusted to the weight of the baby or because my cervix isn't strong or what. But, I'm still riding those wheelchair carts at stores. When else will I have a good excuse for that?

Chad and I had a fun day today celebrating 33 weeks. We had a nice lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Surprisingly we go there for their salad and not their pizza. Yummy! Then we got some tiny little desserts from Whole Foods...called tartlets and bitelets. Little bite sized desserts. Again...Yummy! Then we went to that new Disney movie called "Nature". I love nature shows and it's kind of a best of compilation from the shows Planet Earth. I don't deal well, though, with the whole circle of life thing. I know that the Lion needs to eat the Gazelle to survive, but I just hate watching it. It's a beautiful movie though.

Next week we have our last baby shower. Chad's freelance client, Lifeway is having a shower for us. It's a lunch shower at a Mexican restaurant. That is so nice of them to do that. They've never even met me. We have most of what we need and so are hoping for lots of diapers and a few of our last registry items.

You never know if our next blog post might be announcing our baby girl's birth. She's kept us guessing for sure. A month ago I was just praying and hoping to make it to 30 weeks and here we are. I would love to get to 36 weeks and then I'll be as ready as ever. She'll be big enough and I'll be big enough:) I think my sister might coordinate a poll to see what date everyone thinks she'll be born on. I'll be eager to see what everyone thinks.